The Eighth
by nvjbajk
Summary: A girl from Harry Potter times must go from normalcy, to magic, to civil war within her hometown, to a basic life, all while maintaining a double life between her Muggle world and her Dark side. Rated M for later sexuality. I know the summary sucks.


***DISCLAIMER!!! I own absolutely nothing of Harry Potter, of course. JK is her own muse, I just borrowed some of her elements. I borrowed the magic, the mention of Hogwarts, some Voldemort elements (including some of his intentions, followers, and plot line), but Nikaya is my original character, as well as anyone else I use in excess.

Thanks to: Mando, Lea, Beth, and Stina for their amazing creativity and support in this; I wrote this story for all of us. :D

Prologue

No one knew. No one except, of course, himself and the child's mother. And she was under his Imperius Curse. On top of that, his loyal Death Eaters, the Carrows, were under strict, uninformed orders, to kill her if anything unexpected should happen to him. He smiled to himself, pleased with this idea. The Potter boy,curse him, had found his secret of the seven, and destroyed them. He hadn't, however, found the eighth, and the Dark Lord knew he never would.

Her screams reverberated against the walls of the tiny shack, but the pain wouldn't let up. Amaraya Jemison wet another cold cloth, bustling about while the doctor did what he did best. The poor girl, Nikole Veracruz, lay in excruciating pain on the bed, with her legs suspended in the air. She'd already been in labor for 15 hours, and it didn't show signs of letting up as soon as she needed it to. Finally, the current contraction eased and Nikole groped for Amaraya's hand. Not wanting to be standoffish, Amaraya sat down next to the girl immediately.

"What is it, Nikole? What do you need?" Nikole's feverish eyes opened and sought comfort from Amaraya.

"Ma'am, promise me something. Promise me you'll take this baby in as your own if something happens to me? I've never known anyone kinder than you; you'll do a good job…" Nikole's voice seized as another powerful contraction hit her, and Amaraya winced at the feeling of her hand being crushed. Slowly it eased, and Amaraya thought. She really should talk to Ronald about this first, but she knew that could be eased over. Her own small sons were so precious to her, and already Harvey, being disillusioned with the previous excitement of a little brother, was asking for a sister instead. Sam was too young to understand what a bother he could be, but it was to be expected; he was only 1. Finally, the mother spoke

"Yes, Nikole, I'll take your baby in. Do you have a name picked out for it? Girl or boy?" Slowly Nikole shook her head.

"No. Can you pick something that represents both of us? I want the baby to have a piece of me and a piece of you." Amaraya nodded and helped Nikole bear down for another contraction. Now it would be soon; the baby was crowning and the doctor was asking for Amaraya's help. When she could wrestle her hand free, Amaraya found a clean, dry blanket and prepared to "catch" the baby. There was a feeling of anticipation; this could be the little girl she wanted. Despite the fact that they would have different colored skin, and she would only get this tiny baby if the poor infant's mother died, she still had butterflies.

Moments later, the doctor was pulling a tiny, screaming baby out of her mother. In the background, startlingly, a large, random bolt of lightning struck the ground very close to the house. An instant later, the door slammed open and two shapes, one portly and short, and the other tall and gangly, entered the house. Amaraya moved forward to demand that the two, whoever they might be, leave her home at once, but they pulled forth long stick-looking objects. Amaraya was sent crashing to the wall, next to the bed where Nikole and her newborn lay. The tall gangly one rushed to Amaraya and forced her to a stand, and the portly one knelt over the bed, took the screaming infant from the arms of her mother, and put her in Amaraya's arms. Then the fat one pointed her stick at Nikole and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" Amaraya watched in shock as the light left Nikole's eyes and she lay unmoving, then moved her eyes to the fat one. The skinny one behind her moved to her front.

"Move against the wall with the kid and stay there for a minute." Amaraya did as she was told, and in the next minute, a stick was being pointed at her. Seeing what the stick had done to Nikole, she immediately broke into tears.

"Please don't kill me! I don't even know who you are; I promise I'll just tell that she died of child labor!" The skinny one hissed at her to be quiet, then proceeded to murmur something like "Imperio". The world grew hazy for Amaraya as she listened to the skinny one speak.

"You will keep this child, and when she is older, you will tell her her mother died in childbirth. Her father is not to be discussed. And you will not tell anyone what you have seen tonight." As soon as the words were spoken, the skinny one and the fat one were gone. She looked down at the now calmed infant in her arms.

"I'll call you Nikaya. Nik for your birth mother, the poor dear that died bringing you into this world, and aya for your adopted mother that loves you so much. Nikaya Jemison. It's perfect. Let's go home, little Nikaya." With those words, Amaraya turned to the living room where her husband and two sons were waiting, to introduce them to the newest member of the family.

Chapter One

"Hey, guys, wait for me!" Nikaya, or Nik, as she'd been dubbed by her friends, raced through the streets to keep up with them. Adam, Tyler, and Kalista had taken off running before her, so they had a good lead on her. Sam was busy at home, or he would have stopped long enough to tease her about being a slowpoke. As a matter of fact, he was grounded for that very reason; Mom had gotten so sick of hearing Sam tease his sister that she had grounded him and punished him with chores. Ah, sweet revenge. As she ran, she looked ahead to see a familiar shape waiting for her. It was Adam, her best friend. He was panting, but still looking her direction and grinning. Nik grinned back and sprinted even faster to get to him. When she reached him, she turned course to tackle him, landing them both into a pile of leaves. They both laughed and wrestled around for awhile, shoving leaves down each other's shirts and on each other's heads, until they realized that Kalista and Tyler weren't coming back for them. Probably heading to the haunted shack by the railroad; a favorite place of all four of them.

"Adam, do you want to go to the shack? Or what do you want to do?" Nik waited for Adam to answer her, but he was apparently distracted. He climbed out of the pile of leaves and, like the gentleman his mother had raised him to be, offered her a hand out as well. These days he was often distracted by his own thoughts; and rarely did he choose to share them. She poked his arm.

"Hey. Did you hear me? Where do you want to go?" Adam shook his head and looked at Nik.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. Did you know Tyler got some invitation to go to a special school? He leaves next month. Kalista's really upset." Nik shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"No, I didn't. What's the big deal? Your parents could afford to send her too, so why doesn't Kalista go?" It was Adam's turn to shrug; he only knew that his sister had thrown a temper tantrum when she discovered that Tyler got to go to this special school and she didn't. But behind closed doors, when she thought he couldn't hear, she heard Kalista extracting promises from Tyler to send her the books from the school he was attending, so that she could learn too. Adam couldn't understand why Kalista would want to learn more than she already was; who wanted so much homework? Adam didn't end up doing the homework he had been assigned by his own teacher, much less did he plan to take on a whole new set of schoolwork. How different could it be from the drudgery he already had to learn? He shook his head and smiled once again at Nik; she always put a smile on his face. He didn't care that his mother didn't like her; there wasn't anything wrong with her, and she was a good friend. So what if her family was poor, and not as clean as his?

Nikaya's family lived in Southern Cameron, known most for its lower-class citizens and less-than-hygienic appearance. The Jemisons, consisting of Ronald, Amaraya, Harvey, Sam, and Nikaya, all lived in a tiny home that barely contained them, but also drew them closer out of necessity. Harvey was a bookwork and spent his days either doing homework, extra credit, or research for fun. Sam was always busy with his friends; the only reason he ever saw Nik was to tease her like most big brothers do. Ronald was a bouncer at a local club, one that northerners like to frequent. Amaraya was a nurse at a local medical center; she and Ronald met when Ronald was brought in after a fight at the club, and they've been together ever since. Nik's parents didn't particularly approve of her friendship with Adam. His dad was well-known for being rowdy at the club and causing trouble for Ronald, but they tolerated it because Adam couldn't be held responsible for his father's actions.

Nikaya snapped Adam out of his reverie; he'd been completely zoning out.

"Adam! You wanna come over for dinner? I think my mom is making mac and cheese." Adam smiled again and nodded. Dinner was always fun with the Jemisons, despite the awkward factor. Mrs. Jemison often apologized for the food, but Adam preferred it simple, and he was always playing secret games with Nikaya under the dinner table. Mr. Jemison was normally too involved in his newspaper to be too concerned with their antics; he always wanted to be caught up on the world before his shift at the club.

When they arrived at Nik's house, Adam made sure to wipe his feet, by habit, since his mother would string him alive for tracking a speck of dirt into the house, but Nikaya simply ran in, shouting a greeting to her family and stopping in the kitchen to give her mother a peck on the cheek.

"Hey, Mama. Can Adam stay for dinner? PLEASE?!?!? I promise I'll do my homework right after he leaves." Amaraya shot Nikaya a look, the kind that says, 'yeah, right', but sighed and nodded.

"Yes, he may stay if his parents are alright with it. You better not have that much, little lady, or you'll be grounded from spending so much time with him. Got it?" Nikaya nodded and grinned, then turned to grab plates and set the table with an extra seat for Adam right next to hers. Harvey probably wouldn't be present; he usually ate his dinner in his room so he could study and eat; so Adam almost always took his place at the table. Amaraya turned around and smiled courteously to Adam, and he knew the ever-present apology was coming.

"I'm sorry, Adam; all I have is macaroni and cheese, and hot dogs. Will that be ok with you? You're welcome to dig in the fridge if you want more." Adam smiled back, shaking his head.

"Mrs. Jemison, you know I'm always ok with the food. It's better than the nasty stuff my mom's cook makes. I won't need more; you make enough for an army." Amaraya laughed and nodded.

"True. Sam eats enough for one, and I can usually count on you and Nikaya to finish up whatever is left, so I always make sure there's enough." Adam and Nikaya settled at the table, playfully kicking each other, while Amaraya hollered into the house for everyone else to come and get their food.

When dinner was finished an hour later, Amaraya cleared her throat and gave a pointed look to Nikaya, who, in turn, gave an apologetic glance to Adam. They both climbed out, and while Nik shoved Adam to the door, Adam shoved Nik back towards her room. They knew the drill.


End file.
